Litigation

Argued that juvenile adjudications should not be used to enhance adult sentences, since in juvenile court there is no jury, the culture is non-adversarial, defense attorneys are often overburdened and poorly resourced, unreliable evidence is often used, and appellate rights are either nonexistent or underutilized.

Argued in support of Washington State’s standard for sealing juvenile records because it is aligned with U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence in treating child offenders differently than adults and making it easier for children to seal their records upon completion of their sentences.

Filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of two juveniles who were subjected to excessive and intolerable isolation while in the custody of the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC), claiming violations of substantive and procedural due process rights under federal and state law.

Argued that the juvenile court erred by waiving its jurisdiction of a youth and transferring the youth to adult court based on the charged offense alone, without an individualized determination of the youth's maturity, culpability, and capacity for change.

These briefs involved a thirteen-year-old student who was questioned by four adults, including a uniformed police officer, on school grounds regarding a series of break-ins. Juvenile Law Center argued that the student should have been considered in custody for Miranda purposes.

Supreme Court held the execution of juveniles unconstitutional. Juvenile Law Center’s brief argued the developmental differences between adolescents and adults in critical areas, including impulse control and understanding consequences.

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One of the most important lessons from our 40 years of experience is that children involved with the justice and foster care systems need zealous legal advocates. Your support for our work is more important now than ever before.